Trial Balloon: March 3, 2009 Archive

We have a ticket give away for this coming Sunday's International Women's Day performance by Susan Werner and Cheryl Wheeler at the Cedar Cultural Center!
This is the first ever presented-by-Radio Heartland event at the Cedar.
Susan and Cheryl and great songwriters and hilarious people to boot.
We'll record it and put it on the air as a concert later this month.
We have four pairs of tickets to award to Radiio Heartland listeners.
You ought to be there. Read the rules. Enter to win.
Have a great time.

And speaking of optimism and the future, this reassuring note from Congressman Loomis Beechly came late yesterday.

Dear 9th Districter,

Representing all the water surface area in Minnesota as I do, I am well aware, as are you, that every lake has a muddy, murky bottom. Sometimes, when you've been out fishing for a while and there's been some roughhousing and you get pushed out of the boat by your so-called "friends", you get a chance to have a good, close look at that lake bottom. Probably it's a better look than you ever wanted to get. When you're sinking down to the place where the water stops, it's not always clear when the exact moment is that you've found it because it gets a little iffy with all the weeds and things. But when you finally do get there, there's no mistaking it. It's smooshy and icky, and when your bare foot sinks into it, you can't help but wonder if there's something lurking in there that might take a chunk out of your toe, and it makes you want to push off as quickly as you can so you can get back up to the surface, where you can breathe and also get back at those jokers who pushed you in.

I'm writing to tell you our economy is like a Minnesota lake, and the fact that it's been feeling cold and uncomfortable lately, and our heads are full of pressure and our eyeballs feel like they might explode at any minute - that's a sure sign that we're almost at the bottom, so let the latest troubling news be a positive signal to you that soon it will be time to curl the mud between our toes and launch ourselves off the somewhat solid earth of the lake bed towards the air and the light.

Of course the top of the lake is frozen right now so we don't want to go flying up there too fast or we'll do ourselves more harm than good.

But the point is this: Things are about to change. I can feel it. If you can hold your breath just a little bit longer, everything will be all right. There is a huge demand in our emotional economy for some Spring right now, and the market will always find a way to provide what the people want; whether it's a potato in every pot, an Amish Fireplace, a new car, the next big Ponzi Scheme, or something hopeful to believe in.

I believe in the bottom. It's nasty enough right now to be the truly awful worst it can get. And a bottom is as much a part of a Minnesota lake as the top, so let's be grateful we have one.
Now push!

Your Congressman,

Loomis Beechly

PS - Anyone planning to vote absentee for me in 2010, it's not too early to start doing your paperwork! Let's be sure we get everything filled out just right this time!